Walking Dead fans should check out The Last of Us tonight on HBO

As fans of The Walking Dead await the release of Fear the Walking Dead in May and Dead City in June, HBO has just the thing to fill the void of apocalyptic dramas. The Last of Us will premiere on HBO  on Jan. 15 at 9 p.m. ET and stream on HBO Max. This series is based on the wildly popular video game, and initial reviews have been positive.

The Last of Us, like The Walking Dead, is an adaptation. The new series gets its source material from the video game developed by Naughty Dog in 2013. The series is directed by  Craig Mazin, known for the series  Chernobyl, and game creator, Neil Druckmann. The Last of Us will be the perfect fit for The Walking Dead fans who need something to fill the void the conclusion of that series has left.

The first season of The Last of Us will consist of six weekly episodes and follow Joel, a smuggler who, with his coworker Tess, transports cargo across the apocalyptic United States, which saw the beginning of the end 20 years prior. Their latest cargo, a young girl named Ellie, could be the key to a vaccine against the virus that has caused the outbreak.

Pedro Pascal portrays Joel with  Anna Torv as Tess and Bella Ramsey as Ellie. They are joined by Gabriel Luna, Merle Dandridge, Nico Parker, Murray Bartlett, Nick Offerman, Melanie Lynskey, Storm Reid, Graham Greene, Lamar Johnson, and Troy Baker, who portrayed Joel in the video games.

The Walking Dead and The Last of Us have common elements

Both The Walking Dead and The Last of Us do not use the word zombie to describe the undead. The Walking Dead has numerous names, but the most common is walker. In The Last of Us, the undead are referred to as Cordyceps due to the Cordyceps Brain Infection, or CBI, caused by the outbreak.

Although most assuredly an apocalyptic series, each series puts more focus on the survivor’s stories than the undead. Another similarity is that humans are often more of a threat than the undead.

The main characters, Rick in TWD and Joel in TLOU, have suffered heartbreaking losses that significantly affect their journey.

Check out The Last of Us on HBO on Jan. 15 at 9 p.m. ET. and streaming on HBO Max.

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